We were held to a 1-1 draw against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium, but the point saw us go four points clear at the top of the table.
We took the lead when Noni Madueke superbly headed in just past the hour mark, but 10 minutes later Keane Lewis-Potter netted himself in the air after a long throw caused problems.
Both teams had late chances to win it, with Brazilians Thiago Silva and Gabriel Martinelli finding themselves in positions to snatch a dramatic victory ins toppage-time, but neither took one and the points were shared.
Stale first half
After Manchester City had trimmed our six-point advantage the previous night, a meeting between the league leaders who’d won four on the bounce and a Bees team have been beaten just twice in 12 on their own patch this term was always likely to be a tight affair, and that showed in the first half with both sides cancelling each other out.
For all our efforts in the first 45, Gabriel came closest to a shot when a corner found him at the front post but his attempt caught his shoulder and was blocked by a defender. That was as good as it got for us before the break despite plenty of endeavour in the Bees’ half, and the hosts would have the best opportunity before half-time.
David Raya inadvertently misjudged a routine roll-out to Declan Rice which allowed Mathias Jensen to nick the ball and have time to fly a cross in for Igor Thiago to head goalwards, but our shot-stopper managed to make a point-blank save to keep it out of his net.
That was the only shot on target registered in the first half – indeed there were only four in total throughout that time, the second-lowest tally in a Premier League first- half all season so far.
In front – but not for long
In an attempt to change that, Mikel Arteta opted to bring on Martin Odegaard for Ebere Eze at the break, and a good chance came his way after neat play between Rice and Piero Hincapie on the left flank, but the skipper sent his shot over the crossbar, but on the hour mark we got in front with a moment of quality.
After we won a throw on the left, it was half-cleared by Michael Kayode back out to the original taker Hincapie. He swung a brilliant curling cross into the box, where Madueke towered above the defence, seemingly hanging in the air to redirect the delivery into the far corner, leaving Caoimhim Kelleher waving it goodbye.
Our joy, and indeed the lead, was nearly short-lived as a few minutes later a series of Brentford corners led to Jensen swinging one over for a completely unmarked Lewis-Potter to seemingly nod into the net, but he got it wrong and sent it wide as we received a major let-off.
A game of few chances had given way to one of many, and after a swift counter-attack saw Rice pass up the opportunity to shoot and the hosts clear, they went down the other end and Silva forced Raya to push away a stinging blast.
But on 71 minutes the Bees got back level using their not-so-secret weapon. Kayode wound up a long throw which he catapulted into a packed box, and after Sepp van den Berg nodded it on, Lewis-Potter flew in to score with a diving header and level things up once more.
That gave Keith Andrews’ side a lift and they would push hard for a winner, and but for an excellent sliding recovery challenge by Cristhian Mosquera, Silva could have been celebrating handing his team a lead with four minutes to play.
And in stoppage-time perhaps he should have done so when he raced into the box to get a sight of goal, but hammered a big chance over the crossbar. We went straight down the other end and after Viktor Gyokeres played in Jurrien Timber, the defender laid the ball into Martinelli’s path to go one-on-one with Kelleher. It seemed set to be a golden moment, but the Irish keeper stuck out an arm to block the shot as we had to settle for a point.
FACTS AND STATS
Of the 17 games in which we have scored first in the Premier League this season, this is just the second time we’ve failed to win, along with the 2-3 defeat to Manchester United in January.
Brentford have only lost two of their last 11 Premier League games (W6 D3), while across each side’s last 11 matches in the competition, only us (24) and Manchester City (22) have more points than the Bees’ 21.
Only Manchester United (12) have scored more goals via crosses in the Premier League this season than us (9), while only West Ham United (11) have conceded more goals via crosses than Brentford (10).
30 goals have been scored in the Premier League this season via throw-in situations; it’s the first season to see 30+ scored since 2009/10 (32).
Noni Madueke opener in the 61st minute – his 15th Premier League goal and third header – was our first shot on target in the game, only against Wolverhampton Wanderers in December (68th minute) have we waited longer in a league game in 2025/26.
Keane-Lewis Potter’s goal for Brentford was their fourth via throw-in situations in the Premier League this season; the joint-most along with Burnley.
What’s next
We turn our attentions to the FA Cup on Sunday when we host League One side Wigan Athletic at Emirates Stadium. Then we play our rearranged Premier League game at Wolves on Wednesday, before the second north London derby of the campaign when we head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, February 22.
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